Sinagpore, 10 Mar 2020 – Amidst global economic uncertainties and structural changes to the labour market, companies have been capitalising on Workforce Singapore’s (WSG) Adapt and Grow programmes to embark on business transformation and uplift workforce capabilities. To complement their efforts and to encourage them to plan for the long term and press ahead with enterprise transformation, WSG is prepared to provide employers with more support to help defray the costs involved in training and redeploying workers into enhanced and redesigned roles.

2            The Redeployment Programme for Supply Chain and Logistics Coordinators was developed by WSG, the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the Supply Chain and Logistics Academy (SCALA), with support from the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and Logistics Alliance, to reskill and redeploy existing workers to take on enhanced or redesigned roles.

3            Companies in the supply chain and logistics sector are encouraged to leverage this programme, along with the Redeployment Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Supply Chain and Logistics Professionals as well as the supply chain and logistics-related PCPs for mid-career hires, to support and accelerate their transformation amidst the economic lull and prepare their workforce for new industry developments and the future of work.

4            Meanwhile, sectors hardest-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak are also gearing up to use the downtime to complete their job redesign or transformation projects as well as reskilling and redeploying their workers into redesigned or enhanced roles. The recently announced support measures for these sectors have received strong response as a result. These include WSG’s extension of the salary support duration for both Job Redesign Place-and-Train Programmes for Retail and Food Services industries on a time-limited basis, from up-to-3 months to up-to-6 months. As announced by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower, during the Committee of Supply debate, the salary support for Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above will also be enhanced to 90% from 1 Apr 2020. Retailers in the furniture industry will also get a leg-up during this downtime through the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Digital Operations Talent for Furniture Industry, which provides training and wage support to reskill their workers into digital roles in support of their adoption of e-commerce and omni-channel business formats.

5            Collectively, more than 2,600 workers are expected to benefit from WSG’s programmes and support measures for the supply chain and logistics sector as well as the sectors directly affected by COVID-19. WSG’s support measures are part of the $4 billion Stabilisation and Support Package (SSP) that was introduced in Budget 2020 to provide assurance and support to workers and enterprises in this time of economic uncertainty, with additional support for sectors more directly affected by COVID-19. SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) is also providing time-limited, enhanced training support for the directly affected sectors such as air transport and tourism.

6            Mr Tan Choon Shian, WSG’s Chief Executive said, “We are heartened that employers have responded to our call to press on with their transformation despite difficult circumstances. By helping employers defray bulk of the costs for training with salary support, workers in participating companies can look forward to being reskilled into enhanced job roles to better support businesses for economic recovery.”

7            Mrs Teo made the above announcements during her visit to ST Logistics Pte Ltd on 10 Mar. As they accelerate their transformation, both Toll Logistics and its subsidiary ST Logistics have committed to tap on the Redeployment PCP for Supply Chain and Logistics Professionals and the Redeployment Programme for Supply Chain and Logistics Coordinators to reskill 100 workers into redesigned or enhanced roles.

8            Mr Thomas Knudsen, Managing Director of Toll Group said, “In Toll Singapore and ST Logistics, our success is dependent on our people with the right capabilities, especially in a global environment of evolving technological innovations and business models. As part of our transformation journey, we will continue to work with WSG and other government agencies to invest in our workforce to train and upskill our people to reach their fullest potential.”

For media enquiries, please contact:

Esther Chan
Senior Manager, Workforce Singapore
9188 8251
esther_chan@wsg.gov.sg

About Workforce Singapore

Workforce Singapore promotes the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness, and employability of all levels of the workforce. Its key mission is to enable Singaporeans to meet their career aspirations, take on quality jobs at different stages of life, and help enterprises be competitive and manpower-lean. Workforce Singapore’s focus is on strengthening the Singaporean core and ensuring that Singaporeans are able to have better jobs and careers. Workforce Singapore, in partnership with key stakeholders, also provides support to business owners and companies to enable them to transform and grow, while building a future-ready workforce. Visit www.wsg.gov.sg for more information.

Key measures under the Stabilisation and Support Package to help hardest hit sectors